Myers will not step down and back Wismer, and some brief thoughts on political bloggers

At the end of the Alternative Candidate Forum in Sioux Falls, there was a question and answer session for the candidates. Overall too much time in the QA was spent by the moderator of the event speaking against marijuana legalization with candidates running for office. I felt that was a waste of valuable time, since the candidates in question wouldn’t even be dealing with that topic for the races they are in. But there was a good question thrown at Independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Myers about getting out of the race.

Before going on, I will mention the question was asked by Tara Volesky, his campaign manager. So this was most assuredly a staged question. But it is still an interesting one nonetheless. Tara said many Democrats had asked Myers to step out of the race because he is going to take votes away from the Democrat candidate Susan Wismer. I actually agree with Volesky on this, some Democrats have asked me the possibility of him stepping down so it doesn’t cost Wismer votes.

Myers said “I believe its time for a true independent movement in this state”. He said most of the people he speaks to on the street are ready for an independent candidate. In addition, Myers says many of the bloggers and political commentators are “less enthusiastic” about an independent candidate. I would tend to agree with Myers on that point. When reading political blogs it is important to take the bias of those writing the blogs into account (I include my own blog in that statement). I would also note that the two political blogs that get heavy traffic in SD also happen to be aligned with the two big parties. I think political blogs are great about getting information and opinions out, but at the same time it can further skew the viewpoints of those that frequent political blogs. Lets face it, the average voter doesn’t frequent political blogs. It is entirely believable that the average voter could be receptive to an independent candidate while simultaneously political bloggers and commentators feel independent candidates are a non-issue.

Myers said he will stay on the track of being an independent. He senses a movement in the public at large gravitating towards independent candidates. Earlier in the event Ron Paul’s book Revolution was mentioned. Myers brought up Revolution again to show the public at large is ready for a change, although probably not a Revolution. He then went on to use a talking point I’ve heard in many form lately “The Democrats could run Jesus himself and not win the Governorship in South Dakota”. Myers admitted that may be a little strong of a statement. I’m not so sure, at least in 2014 I don’t see a lot of paths to victory for Wismer (yes, Wismer has vastly improved her campaign, but it will take more than that). Myers said he will stick with the Independent route and that he has some compatibility with the Democrat party on some issues. He would like to sit down and chat with Susan, but he has no interest in backing a Democrat.

I agree with Myers that more people are ready for Independent candidates. But at the same time I also think they are afraid of going outside the two parties; because of the fear that if they don’t vote for the bad candidate in their preferred party, then the bad candidate from the other party will win. Of course my own bias as an independent/libertarian blogger may be skewing my opinion in this topic.

Well, if nothing else there were two good things that came out of the QA session:

It was learned that Mike Myers will not step down and support Wismer. I never thought he would.

The bias of bloggers should ALWAYS be taken into account. Bias isn’t a bad thing. But if bias isn’t taken into account it will leave readers with a skewed perception of the political environment. That is a bad thing!

It is also worth noting that Wismer has said she thinks there needs to be more independent thought in Pierre. Perhaps Wismer will find a way to attract the majority of independent voters and swing this election. That may be tough for her to do, but it would make for one heck of an interesting gubernatorial race with Myers and Wismer both fighting for Independents.

Like this:

It doesn’t matter if he steps down or not anyway because Wisner probably doesn’t have a chance. Neither does Mike. This is an overwhelmingly Republican state. Voters don’t really care about the issues They just want to be on the winning side. It makes them feel good. Voters are lazy sheep. They don’t want to have to think for themselves. It hurts their little brains.

Apparently, Mike’s reason to stay in the race is to draw attention to his issues. He has to know he hasn’t a chance at this point. I can respect that. If Tara was interested in a victory, she was going to have to hear some suggestions I gave her. It’s too late now. As they say, you have to buy groceries when the store is still open. If your favorite store is closed, then you have to go to some other store that you may not like as well – if at all. Well, I guess you could go without groceries.

Mike has the good ideas, but he doesn’t have the skills to pull them off.

I agree completely with many people voting R just to be on the winning side. That will be hard to change. I think some of his ideas would have been better received at the State Fair is he hadn’t had voice problems. The laryngitis made him sound more of a cranky old man than he is.

Merlyn, quit sounding like a cranky old man, lol. That’s the problem with SD, we have to many people that are negative, apathetic and give up because they don’t feel that they can compete against the machine. Yes, this is a tough fight, but whether we win or lose, we gave it our all. Myer’s has inspired people to be Independent, don’t back down, and THINK FOR YOURSELF!

Completely off topic, but related to cranky old man. My youngest son (7) last night asked me how come I’m not in an “old peoples home yet”. He said that after he got in trouble for something…

Merlyn Schutterle

September 3, 2014 at 3:10 pm

I’m not a cranky old man. I’m just realistic. I have my eyes and ears wide open and my brain engaged. Things are going to go the way they are, I think you wear rose-colored contacts, Tara, but I admire your tenacity. You are guided by your emotions rather than being a good strategist. People who play poker by emotions lose.

Oh, by the way Ken, I don’t think you are bias at all. Thanks for another great article. I asked that question so people could hear it from Mike instead of me. I don’t want to start sounding like Dick Wadams.